Turning Gaps into Gold: Revenue Strategies in Rural FFS Primary Care
Gaps in care, such as missing screenings and immunizations, contribute to 45% of US deaths from modifiable risk factors. Despite the critical role of routine health screenings, only 8% of people receive all recommended tests.
Current practices to address these gaps involve labor-intensive, phone and mail-based patient outreach, which is inefficient due to staffing shortages and low response rates. Shifting the responsibility to patients is ineffective due to widespread low health literacy.
Rural health systems can improve health outcomes and generate revenue by leveraging digital outreach tools, like chatbots, to automate patient engagement, provide educational materials, and simplify scheduling. This proactive approach can streamline care gap closure, reduce costs, and enhance patient follow-through, ultimately benefiting both community health and the financial stability of FFS primary care practices.